Colossus

A statue without identity for the identity of the city

The Colossus of Barletta is the city’s best-known monument: commonly referred to by the name of the emperor Heraclius, in truth it escapes certain identification.

It is a bronze statue reintegrated in some of the missing parts in different periods. The sources tell of a first restoration in 1491, when the right hand and the cross were reconstructed.

The first mention of the monument dates back to 1309, when Charles II of Anjou authorized the use of the statue's bronze to cast a bell for the Dominican church in nearby Manfredonia.

The current location, by the church of the Holy Sepulchre, reflects the position that the Colossus has occupied since the modern age. After lying abandoned for a long time near the port, it was transported to the entrance of the Seggio of the People, which was destroyed in 1923, remaining isolated where it can be seen today.